HRnu("KA] PllYSIOI.O(JI('ATi AND MKDTCAT. ORSEHVATTONS 73 



EARLY ATTENTION 'I'O I'HK INI A\l'; NlKSlNf! AND I'EEDINC 



The trcMitmont of the newborn cliiM ainon^- tlu^ Indians lieivin 

 dealt with, so far as it is of ])]iysiolo^ical or medical interest, is every- 

 where quite simple. After beint^; cut and tied, the cord is wrapped 

 in a piece of fabric or, in some instances, simply laid upon the abdo- 

 men. A bandage is sometimes placed about the cliild's abdonuMi. 

 The infant is taken in charge by the grandmother or another old 

 woman, and is then washed or rubbed, in some tril)es given a taste of 

 a sacred food or drink, and laid to sleep at first on bedding and later 

 on a cradle board. As soon as the mother's flow of milk commences 

 tiie child is nursed. No dilference was found anywhere between the 

 manner of nursing or feeding the male and the female infant. 



With the Apache newborn infant the cord is usually tied an inch 

 or a little more from the body and then cut alxmt tlie same distance 

 farther away. But little or no \\Tap])ing is used. In four or five days, 

 if all goes well, the cord falls off. The child is then cleansed somewhat 

 or washeil with warm water. 



Al)out San C^arlos, in families in which the old customs still prevail, 

 the child receives its first thorough bathing after four days have passed 

 and is then taken out of doors for the flrst time, this course being pur- 

 sued especially with the first child. A woman recently confined, on 

 l)eing asked why she did not wash or take out her baby until after 

 four days, coukl give no reason other than that in case of the first 

 child the old folk make the mother wait so long. One San Carlos 

 woman told the writer that her babies when born were washed with 

 warm water as soon as it could be made ready. In some instances 

 the children were washed by a woman attendant and in others by the 

 mother herself. At fij-st the child is laid in a warm bed improvised 

 from old clothing, but it is put into the cradle as soon as the latter is 

 made, usually during the first or second day. In no case do the 

 women put anything into the water in which they wash the babies. 



A Tonto Apache mother of nine children said that her infants were 

 washed with warm water soon after birth. Among this tribe the cord 

 is tied with a clean string about an inch from the body and covered 

 with some of the "cotton" and powder of the root of a certain plant 

 (ine-tci-da-il-tso, Perezia wrightii), which make it heal quickly. If 

 soreness develops more of the same root is applied. In a day or two 

 a cradle board is made on which the babe is placed. Among the San 

 C^a-rlos people ashes or clay are never used in cleaning the newborn 

 child. With the more careful mothers infants are washed daily, or 

 nearly every day. 



Among the Mescalero Apache the cord is tied about ] \ or 2 inches 

 from the body and then cut. The cradle board is made after the birth 

 of the child, which is laid thereon the second or third dav. 



